Finland will soon bury nuclear waste in a geological tomb that’s built to last for 100,000 years

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/29/onkalo-finland-to-bury-nuclear-waste-in-worlds-first-geological-tomb.html

by cnbc_official

6 comments

  1. Finland is on the cusp of burying spent nuclear fuel in the world’s first geological tomb, where it will be stored for 100,000 years.

    The pioneering project has been [hailed](https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/finlands-spent-fuel-repository-a-game-changer-for-the-nuclear-industry-director-general-grossi-says) as both a watershed moment for the long-term sustainability of nuclear energy and “a model for the entire world.”

    At some point either next year or in early 2026, highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel will be packed in watertight canisters and deposited into bedrock more than 400 meters below the forests of southwest Finland.

    The durable copper canisters will be isolated, separated from humans and kept underground for thousands of years.

    “Onkalo,” which is the trademark name of the long-term disposal facility, is the Finnish word for a small cave or pit. It is an apt name for the repository, which sits atop a warren of tunnels and is situated next to three nuclear reactors on the island of Olkiluoto, approximately 240 kilometers from the capital of Helsinki.

    More: [https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/29/onkalo-finland-to-bury-nuclear-waste-in-worlds-first-geological-tomb.html](https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/29/onkalo-finland-to-bury-nuclear-waste-in-worlds-first-geological-tomb.html)

  3. “Into Eternity” Is an incredibly well made documentary about “Onkalo”.

  4. Funny to think of the hundred times larger volume of industrial forever toxic waste we are burying with far less attention, let alone public outrage or media coverage.

    If anything, our descendent will only wish all our waste (but especially CO2) had been radioactive, maybe we would have cared properly.

  5. Is this like the 100,00 year seed vault . That is now not going to last because of global warming or like deep well storage that oops causes earthquakes?

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